Cass's Travalanche 流浪旅行個不停

I wake up.

This room is peaceful as usual.

Why am I still thinking about Pitch Perfect?

The melody, the harmony,

and Titanium is stuck in my hazy morning head.

You shout it loud, but I can't hear a word you say

I'm talking loud, not saying much

I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet

you shoot me down, but I get up

I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose

fire away, fire away

ricochet, you take your aim

fire away, fire away

you shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium

you shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium

Cut me down, but it's you who'll have further to fall

Ghost town and haunted love

Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones

I'm talking loud, not saying much

you shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium

Maybe it is because I haven't got up from bed

and do something physical like

walk to the kitchen and make coffee,

or brush my teeth.

This is the second week of

bumming in Amika's house.

She and her fiance Greg are

so easy going and funny

that I will give them the title of Best Couple. 

During the week,

my days are conveniently divided into two.

The first half -- before they

come home from work at 4.15pm.

I wake up just before noon,

have my one hour breakfast,

one hour shower and

one hour internet.

Then if I am feeling productive

I do what I am supposed to do,

like sending some resumes

to get a job that I don't really want.

The second half is a lot more fun,

when they arrive home,

we would talk, play cribb, talk, and play cribb.

'Cribb' is a fun card game that

can be played by two or three person.

Eventhough I think '500' is more fun.

My very peaceful bumming lifestyle hence

made my weekend seemed extremely active.

We drove to Sunshine Coast,

done a bit of sightseeing,

and we played 500 and

watched rugby with Amika's sisters family.

Why didn't we play 500 at home?

Because 500 requires four person. 

On Sunday Amika's brother came over

for breakfast and 500.

Yes because 500 is such a fun game to play,

I could easily play 500 for 4 hours

then talk about it for another 4 hours.

In the afternoon we went out to the park

and played cricket, volleyball,

badminton, touch football,

backward and forward. 

Yes all those in one afternoon.

Too active or what?

That was my first cricket experience,

I feel so Australian now I know something about

Australian football, rugby and cricket.

Each and everyone of them cracked a joke

everytime they spoke and we laughed so much

that my jaw was tingling at the end of the day.

Then at night we watched Pitch Perfect. 

I guess it is the whole weekend

that is stuck in my head,

not just Titanium.

I am happy, this is my life.

It is beautiful.

And I think I've just met the

Best Family to hangout with. 

  Tokyo Haneda airport, landside,

on the bench outside the arrival gates.

I slept from 1 A.M. to 6A.M. soundly

without a single startle.  

I wouldn't mind giving the benches a 5 stars rating. 

No armrests, soft padded seat,

no hobo-hating security guards, very light announcements,

uncrowded (each of us took a row) ,

nice heating, clean toilets and drinking water.

Better sleep than most of the hostels I have been.

Only when a commotion of noise began at 6A.M. in front of the airline counter,

I woke up to a slightly amusing scene. 

It was touchingly funny when a group of 20 salarymen

in the same type of black office suits

and same pattern but different colours of ties

bowing at each other and greeted.

It didn't took long for me to figure out who were the

lower ranking ones and who were the bosses.

The bottom levels bowed deeply and

held the position for a few seconds,

and when the bosses returned the bow with a slight angle,

only then he resumed.

Then when they were introduced to another group member,

they repeated. 

Just then, a late comer came running in

small but rushing steps.

He was sweating mostly from panick and guilts,

his face was apologetic enough if not his very sincere bows.

It was at least seven huge and deep anxious bows

holding more than five seconds to each person in the group

when saying that he was sorry for being late.

I made a quick mental note, if I ever work in Japan,

NEVER, EVER, be late.

----------------------(this is my mind flow separation line)-------------------------

“Sorry, my English is very bad."

She said, sheepishly, when she slightly bowed and

avoided my eye contacts,  

as if she has just committed a national crime.

"Gomenasai, watashino nihongo mo totemo dame desu.

(Sorry, my Japanese is also very bad.)"

I reluctantly apologised too,

for something I didn't feel sorry at all.

Maybe I did, correspondingly sheepish.

Because I felt I wasn't humble enough

to feel guilty about me not being able to

speak her language that well.

"You don't have to apologise for your English,

I come to your country, I should learn to speak Japanese.

Sorry about my broken Japanese."

I apologised again, this time returning her bow,

secretly bravo-ing myself for being so Japanese.

I smiled, then she smiled. We both smiled.

Then she gave me 6 extra Takoyakis for free.

"Ah honto?? Domo arigatougozaimasu!!

(Ah really?? Thank you very much!!) "

I bowed, sincerely.

凌晨2.00 

我和妈在蒲种四方形的六楼小公寓，精神恍惚，眼角朦胧看着我的11寸ASUS小电脑屏幕。

“赶快订，去Hanoi那么便宜。”一直幻想着在越北Sapa田野吟詩散步的吾媽，和我熬夜在電腦前盯著亞航的11cent機票促銷猛看，在Waiting Room進進出出。

“啊那不然去Boracay好了，在菲律賓那麽遠，來回才RM100。”

瞌睡媽一臉茫然，Boracay是啥山芭荒野地冬。 

 Boracay它就是！.......... 其實我也不知道。

趕快趁昏睡媽不注意用從小儅宅女訓練出來的手指飛快在電腦鍵盤上敲打，幾個按鈕，一堆漂亮的無敵海景出現在熒幕。

我既然有Google大神在背後撐腰，就開始狐假虎威。

推一推眼鏡，睨了睨無知媽。

“Boracay是個很美麗的海島啦！咱定下去就對了，那麽便宜！順便幫爸也買！”

這時候年過半百的昏睡媽只想趕快去床上昏睡，就這樣我們三個人的第二次短游地點就被定下來了。

一個星期后爬文找資料才赫然發現，Boracay其實就是大名鼎鼎，偶像劇電影常都會出現，世界十大最美海灘之一的---長灘島！

（那些因爲我整天愛亂跑就認爲我的世界地理知識很好的人，你們從一開始就錯了~）

長灘島在十二月份的這個季節，五點半就天黑了。

黃昏時分才抵達的我們，check in了后就在White Beach前面的主要街上走走。

因爲天黑了沒有看到無敵海景，科學媽還很懷疑長灘島的負享盛名。

而被半逼著跟我們一起出遊的爸完全不給長灘島的名氣面子。

"不明白爲什麽有人說來了下次還會再來，這樣的度假地方來一次就夠了。"

我也開始在暗忖長灘啊長灘希望這個島嶼不是徒得虛名na~ Google大神你的照片最好不要全部都是后制效果。

還好第二天開始我們就被像風景畫一樣展示在我們眼前的大海迷住了。

一起開了ATV上Mount Luho去，可以俯瞰整個WhiteBeach。視野很廣闊，心情很豁達。

爸大方的給了ATV小弟小費，他開心得很靦腆。

第三天的Snorkelling trip到了漂亮指數爆燈的海灘，開心的愛玩媽在大太陽下都毫不猶豫地浸在透明閃著銀光的海浪中翻滾~

而耍酷爸則選擇滴水不沾，懶洋洋地坐在陽光毒不到的屋簷下欣賞長灘。

 傍晚在那長長白白的沙灘散步，剛好遇到國際風帆衝浪比賽，看得我心癢難搔。

衝浪試過了，那下次去風帆衝浪吧！

白天同船的貌似新加坡情侶，男的帥女的俏，一整天我和媽都在偷看那對很養眼的小兩口，那男的身材好的讓人一不留神很想一口咬下去，回程時我們還跟蹤了他們發現他們下榻的酒店。

後來我們的推測之下決定他們應該是來參加風帆衝浪的選手，昨天的初賽落選了今天就乾脆出去曬太陽，好遐意的生活。

我們最開心的就是在D'talipapa 的活海鮮市場，現買了很多肉的海鮮，大快朵頤了一番，價錢比在海邊那些餐館便宜了一半，新鮮了一倍！

晚上不喜歡走動的老爸寧願呆在房裏看電視，我和好動媽就到處走走。

我們僅僅從Station2走到Station3，就走了一個小時，真不愧是長灘。

看著漂亮的海邊逐漸昏暗，謐靜祥和，雖然不時有人過來推銷活動，可是卻不像Bali島那麽纏人，連媽也說走在這裡感覺很安全。

這也是Boracay在我心目中的去過的島嶼大躍身成爲榜首的主要原因。

看見喜歡的駐唱歌手，我們就決定停下來休息。

剛好是Happyhour，Cocktail買一送一。

我問天真媽：“你確定能喝嗎？你醉了我沒有力背你回去。”

天真媽拂一拂頭髮，“當然沒問題！我之前喝過很多酒精的都沒關係。”

海風輕吹，歌聲繞梁，我們小酌著一人一杯Long Island Tea，享受著度假的氛圍。

一首歌后，突然聽見天真媽天真的說，“這杯酒好像很強。”

我一聼苗頭不對，低頭一看，五分鐘内媽竟然喝的見底了。

我才喝了不到一半！（驚）

“頭好像有點暈。”

“你喝那麽快！當然會暈！

剛才不是說你之前有喝過嗎？”

“噢我喝過那種法國廊酒，不是一樣的嗎？”

“哪裏有一樣，喝過廊酒叫做喝過酒嗎。”

看著微醺媽很好笑地口齒不清，還叫我看她走路時有沒有維持一條直綫。

我想起剛出去時也以爲烈酒和啤酒一樣，喝酒像喝茶一樣灌的初體驗，有種時空交織的錯覺。

結果微醺媽搞笑地把第一次喝醉的經驗天真的獻給了Boracay，頭重腳輕地回到房間直接躺在床上一直到天亮。

從開始的‘菲律賓有什麽好玩’到最後一天的‘我們再看什麽時候又有便宜機票可以再來’。

在毫無計劃，甚至毫不知情下，我們對意外造訪長灘島，留下了那麽美麗的回憶。

最後開心媽還說了一句：“難怪那時候你在海島可以呆那麽多天無所事事。”

這麽簡單的一句話，我卻感動了。

他們本來不知道的。

他們本來不以爲然的。

每一次和父母的出游，雖然不像一個人時那麽自由灑脫，卻是讓他們親身掠過我的世界，少一點成見，多一份共鳴。

雖然短暫，我知道，那些靠著臆測，卻總是無法想象的我的視野藍圖少了一點；他們親眼看見過的我的世界，從此多了一塊。

回國后才發現原來很多人也不知道長灘島的英文名叫Boracay,而且還很多人管它叫Bora。

難怪島上幾個牌子都寫著說是Boracay！不是Bora!

注：由於全程由好動媽抓相機，爲了完美呈現Boracay的原本風貌，從網絡上抄了幾張漂亮的長灘島照片，可以保證的是風景真的和照片一樣迷人。

親愛的大米：

最近好嗎？ 日子過得精彩嗎？

在新的工作有沒有人給你鼓勵，

讓你別氣餒，說你做的很好。

新的環境有沒有受委屈，

有沒有人陪你發洩。

觸到笑點時有沒有人陪你笑得飆淚。

還有還有，有沒有人整天

吵你一起看Runningman。

我很好，我很努力的調整心情。

有時候上班時不開心，

會想念你振奮人心的鼓勵。

受委屈時你不在，

沒人憤憤不平地激動演説。

不知所措時沒人看著我搞笑地說

‘唉我也很笨不知道該怎麽辦’。

其實我真的很想念我們

在一起東拉西扯的日子。

在山坡上你說你是Peterpan裏的Wendy,

一直都很不想長大。

我說我應該是Lion King裏的辛巴，

不是無畏無懼，也不是膽小如鼠，

只需要一點的鼓勵，

就能跌跌撞撞的前進。

我們常常因爲不能自主地環境

而一起托腮，嘆息，

然後開始看著彼此的前方

發著奇奇怪怪的夢

好像說著說著夢想就漸漸向我們靠近。

後來你突然說要走，我真的很鬱悶。

我以爲我會先離開的。

你笑笑說沒關係我們可以約好幾年后

在某一処繼續聊著我們的成長和改變。

還可以繼續說著無釐頭的笑話。  

你知道嗎那時候我想了一想用力點頭，

你以爲我想通了。

其實我想通的是，

無論我怎麽不捨，

你都不可能一輩子陪在我身邊。

我們努力鼓起勇氣吧！

Beautiful day today in Newman, sunny and warm in the afternoon, went out for a bike ride with Luisa, talked about random things and caught up with things that happened recently.

Told her I’m still feeling lonely sometimes, especially when all the Australians talking to each other in a big group, still don’t get it 20% of time, and a lot of culture and background difference between us that hinder me to be connected at a deeper level.

Sportwise they’re interested in Australian Footy, Cricket, Netball, Rugby. No badminton, table tennis, soccer.

Celebritywise they’re talking bout Nicki Minaj, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Oprah. No Mayday, Fish Leong, Anthony lau.

Acitivitywise they like to go hiking, outdoor walking, swimming, fourwheel driving, fishing, camping, no internet freak, otaku, videogames and Japanese animo.

Culturewise they believe in standing up for own right, speak up and don’t really mind being a bitch sometimes. No modesty, perseverance, humility and endurance.

Interestwise they go out drinking, party, talk about girls, girls talk bout guys. No mamak stall yamcha, sit at beach watching sunset (of course there’s no beach in Newman), watching movie and shopping.

Relationshipwise they hook up in the bar and get the first cute guy that comes into their sight. Not much expectation of inner values of future partner.

Loneliness is, even when people are surrounding me, I feel disconnected.

But hush now, there’re a lot of other things to worry about, much more important than my own little world, that is the forgotten poor and needy in this world. Not even on the other side of earth, they’re around us, everywhere, if we are ever willing to see.

Our guest speaker at church service this morning was Steve from TEARS organization ( www.tears.org.au ). He shared that when he was in Bangladesh talking to this group of 20 women, 1 of the woman asked him this question:  I wake up every morning in cold sweat, thinking how am I going to make ends meet and feed my family today. What’s the first question that comes into your mind first thing in the morning?

The speaker said: I didn’t dare to tell her, it usually was ‘Do I really have to go to work today?’. We just dont realise how lucky we are to just have a job.

Another man told him, if you come here to help us and change our lives, please forget it and go back to your home country. But if you come here to set yourself free and be liberalized from your culture, see through the difference between us and truly appreciate it and change your perspective about things and values, and at the same time help us out, then you are very welcomed.

If you own a car, no matter what brand or how old that car is, then you’re a rich person, as in you’re the 20% materially rich person in this world.

If us, the 20% rich people, are all helping the 80% population in this world. Eventually, this world’s gonna be upside down.

I think its time for me to go, widen my horizon, and refresh my perspective and way of seeing world. :)